Italian Spinach Noodle Nests

Per my husband, this recipe is "definitely blog-worthy." I think he wants to make sure that I don't forget what I did so that I can make it again. It's a hazard of being a "kitchen-sink" cook-I just make stuff off the top of my head quite often, and unless I archive it in writing, I'll never remember what I made "You know, that one time, it was like lemony with spinach..?" Haha, so here it is, blogged for posterity! I need to remember to take photos next time...

This is a light, lemony, slightly salty and herby Italian noodle dish playing on the Asian noodle bowls that consist predominantly of vegetables. In this case, a mixture of chicken sausage and mushrooms top salty linguine and lemony spinach greens. The "pop" of the mushrooms in your mouth, with the tender pasta and crisp lettuce is a killer texture and flavor combo!

Ingredients:

5oz. spinach leaves, rinsed and ready to eat
2 lemons
1 Tbs garlic juice (from jarred minced garlic)
1/2 pkg whole wheat linguine
5 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), divided
2 pkgs mushrooms, sliced 1/4" thick
3 chicken sausages (I used roasted red pepper), sliced 1/4" thick
1 tsp rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp all-purpose salt blend (My favorite kitchen staple is Mt. Elbert, from Savory Spice Shop here)
3 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbs butter
sea salt and pepper to taste
Julienned sundried tomatoes and parsley for garnish

1. Set pot of water on to boil. Once boiling, add linguine and cook 7 minutes to al dente.
2. While pasta is cooking, add butter, 2 Tbs EVOO, sliced mushrooms, sliced chicken sausage and garlic to pan. Sprinkle rosemary and salt blend over mixture and sauté covered until mushrooms are soft but still textured, about 5 minutes.
3. Prepare salad mixture for base of "nests": toss spinach with the juice of 1.5 lemons and garlic juices and add to serving bowls, making a dent in the center of the spinach mound to place pasta.
4. Drain pasta and add back into hot cooking pan. Add remaining 3 Tbs EVOO and salt and pepper to taste to the noodles. They should be on the salty side as this is the primary salt element in the dish.
5. Add 1/4 of noodles to center of spinach to make "nest"
6. Top with mushroom and sausage mixture, garnish with sundried tomatoes and parsley and enjoy!

It'za Meatball Stromboli!

This recipe was inspired by my recent travels, where I encountered an awesome restaurant (with delivery service to the hotel) that served a hotdog, topped with mozzarella cheese, wrapped in pizza dough, with marinara dipping sauce. Um, yeah. Pretty delicious.

Fast forward to the next week, when I'm home and thinking, "Man, that was a good recipe, but I don't want to eat a hotdog again. The mozzarella's a low fat cheese, I'm sure I could make whole wheat pizza dough, buy pasta sauce, add some veggies...if only I could think of a healthy substitute protein." Cue frozen turkey meatballs. Now we're in business! I did make my own pizza dough in my bread machine the day before I planned to serve the strombolis, but if you could find it, store-bought would probably be (almost) as healthy and delicious.

First, the pizza dough:

Into bread machine, add:

2/3 c. warm water
1/2 tsp. honey or sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4c. white or bread flour
1 c. + 2 Tbs whole wheat flour
4 Tbs ground flaxseed
1 1/4 tsp yeast


Now, the assembly. You will need:

Pizza dough (1 lb)
20 turkey meatballs
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1c. pepperoncini peppers, drained
1 1/4 tsp. Italian herbs
1 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1 jar marinara or other red pasta sauce, for dipping.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Separate the pizza dough into 5 pieces.
3. Flour the counter and a rolling pin and roll each dough ball out to about 1/8" thickness, big enough to fit four meatballs across and roll. (I do steps 3-7 one stromboli at a time). You're going to eat them, so they don't have to be pretty, just big enough to contain the goodness.
4. Add 1/4c mozzarella cheese, 4 meatballs, Italian herbs, Garlic Powder and pepperoncinis to each dough round/rectangle.
5. Roll up each Stromboli, with the 4 meatballs in a line. Tuck in the sides first, then gently stretch the dough over the meatballs and roll until the other end meets the dough.
6. Poke 3 small vent holes in the top of each Stromboli. Make sure ends are sealed by pinching closed any open sides.
7. Place Strombolis on baking sheet (seam side down), spray the tops lightly with cooking spray, and sprinkle with 3-4 strands of mozzarella cheese.
8. Bake for 18 minutes, or until golden brown and heated through.
9. Serve with warmed marinara sauce.

(Insert Fruit Here) Nut Superfood Muffins

Since I love to bake, but am consistently frustrated with the lack of healthy options to make homemade deliciousness, I started experimenting with recipes until I found a winner. I started with a basic whole wheat banana muffin recipe for 12 muffins, found here: hungryandfit.com.

Some combinations I like: Banana/Walnut, Pineapple/Macadamia (omit cinnamon and nutmeg and use coconut instead of vanilla extract). I would also think Blueberry/Almond (almond extract in place of vanilla), Cherry/Almond (almond extract in place of vanilla) would be good. I may even have to try some kind of chocolate rendition...great idea for another post! I calculated these right at 200 fabulously healthy calories each.

Here's my recipe:

1c whole wheat flour
1/2 c oats (instant or regular)
1/4c ground flaxseed
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2-3 dashes nutmeg
1/3c olive oil
2/3c honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 mashed very ripe bananas or ~3/4c. mashed/crushed fruit of your choice
1/4-1/2c nuts of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease muffin tin.
2. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (where the entire mix will eventually end up): whole wheat flour, oats, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.
3. Measure honey and olive oil (hint: add 1/3c oil first into measuring cup, then add honey until the total liquid reaches the 1 cup mark. The honey will pour out much easier this way).
4. Mix honey and olive oil together until well blended. Beat in eggs.
5. Add vanilla and fruit to egg mixture and stir in.
6. Pour wet ingredients into the dry flour mixture.
7. Add nuts to mixture.
8. Stir until just combined and then pour into muffin tin, with cups about 2/3 full.
9. Bake 18-22 minutes until browned and toothpick inserted in middle of center muffin pulls out clean of batter.